Food Research & Action Center’s ResearchWire newsletter focuses on the latest research, reports, and resources from government agencies, academic researchers, think tanks, and elsewhere at the intersection of food insecurity, poverty, the federal nutrition programs, and health. This inaugural issue reviews the latest research on the harmful impacts of poverty, food insecurity, and poor nutrition on the health and well-being of children, adults, and older adults. 

Learn more about FRAC at http://frac.org/.

This digital report aims to provide champions, allies and stakeholders with the background, data and resources to demonstrate the impact and success of healthy food financing efforts. Advocates will find the framework for evaluating the impacts of HFFI, case studies, as well as the accomplishments achieved by project investments and HFFI programs across the country. 

On the heels of the release of the 2016 Census American Community Survey findings, Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) has launched new interactive data tools illustrate poverty rates and SNAP participation rates at the state and congressional district levels. Policymakers, advocates and others will be better able to pinpoint the extent of poverty in their communities and to understand the importance extent to which SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) is bolstering households struggling with inadequate incomes. The new maps complement previous FRAC mapping of SNAP participation in every U.S. county. 

Harvesting Opportunity: The Power of Regional Food System Investments to Transform Communities, published as a partnership between the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's agencies of Rural Development and the Agricultural Marketing Service focuses on regional food systems as a means for enhancing economic opportunity. This resource offers a compilation of research, essays and reports that explores the potential for the growing popularity of locally sourced food to be harnessed to boost economic opportunities for rural and urban communities.

Benefits Data Trust (BDT) set out with a team of highly skilled researchers to determine what impact the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) had on healthcare utilization and costs. The results of this compelling research are available in this policy brief.

The study is the first to examine the association between SNAP and both hospital and nursing home utilization. Researchers studied the entire population of 69,000 Maryland seniors on Medicaid and Medicare (dual eligibles). Individual-level medical claims data were cross-matched against SNAP enrollment data, and used to analyze the impact of SNAP on healthcare utilization and costs. 

Because for far too long, tribal communities have been separated from their lands and disconnected from traditional foods – putting their tribal culture and health in peril. A movement is happening to rewrite this history of inequity. Tribal communities are returning to traditional practices of the past to remedy problems of the present.

The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative profiles 40 tribal-led projects that are shaking up current food systems. These are just a snapshot of the exciting efforts improving the health of communities across Indian Country.

This website serves as a resource hub and academic paper on the role of food hubs in marketing to the end-user, including:

• Customizable marketing flyer templates
• Best practices for print and social media marketing (with links to other useful resources)
• Inspirational examples from food hubs doing a great job
• Academic hybrid paper, with both a) research on the history and future potential of food hubs, and b) actionable recommendations for food hubs to help their customers market products and maintain source-identification to the end-user consumer.

The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) performed a detailed analysis of supermarket access in 10 metropolitan areas, and the results are discussed in a new video, “Getting to Market.” Results from the analysis encourage users to view the locations of, and generate reports about, low-supermarket-access communities within the 10 metropolitan areas.